Gov't to exercise right to buy Metro Pacific's stake in MRT

ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines - Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the government will exercise its right to buy Manuel V. Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Corp. out of MRT-3.

This will be done so the government can reorganize the transit system before it is bidded out again, Abaya stressed.

Metro Pacific has said it wants to partner with the government, making MRT-3 a part of its infrastructure portfolio.

But Abaya said "There's a fixed formula, there's no negotiations that would transpire. All we have to do is decide and execute."

The government last year bared its plan to take over MRT-3, with the specifics of the transaction to be detailed in an Executive Order.

"An EO has been prepared by [Finance] Secretary [Cesar] Purisima, it's in the office of the President. We both followed up on it and I think the President is pretty much about to hold the pen," Abaya said. -- ANC